Powerglide (DotM)
Vehicle ModeRobot Mode
Allegiance: Autobot
Size: Commander
Difficulty of Transformation: Easy
Color Scheme: Dark dull red, milky brownish gray, and some black, light metallic silvery blue, and silver
Rating: 7.7

    Powerglide's alt mode is a plane highly resembling an A-10 Warthog, and is a very obvious homage (movieverse update?) to the original G1 character. In this mode, the proportions are very close to being realistic, the only real exception to this being that the rear engines are a tad too small proportionally. There's also one (well, two, really) obvious robot extras-- the upper legs can plainly be seen behind the wings leading up to the rear engines. There's also a bit of "undercarriage junk" underneath the main wings, but most of these are Powerglide's detachable missile accessories and the parts that are actually his arms fit in so well size-wise with the surrounding parts they don't stand out as much as they would otherwise. The mold detailing for Powerglide's alt mode, particularly at this scale, is fantastic-- beyond the usual lines 'n such you'd expect to see on a Warthog plane, there's even tiny little "rivet" details everywhere-- truly awesome. The color scheme of dark red and a brownish gray doesn't exactly strike me as cool, but it is both rather realistic and accurate to G1 Powerglide, so there's that. The silver stripes on the main wings and down the sides of the rear engines help to give him a bit more color variety, at least. Powerglide also has three separate fold-out landing gear (though at this scale they aren't actual wheels, natch). Folding them out reveals a slight imbalance flaw for this mode, though-- it's a bit back-heavy, so putting him on a level surface with his gear out makes him tip backwards a bit.
    Powerglide's robot mode is a bit weaker than his plane mode, unfortunately. The main concern here is alt mode kibble, of which there's a fair amount-- the big ones are the main wings, which just hang off his lower arms unceremoniously and impede movement a bit. On lesser notes, there's halves of the back part of his plane mode on the inside of his lower legs, and the nosecone hangs out horizontally behind his head, but at least these don't get in the way of articulation. The proportions are generally pretty good, however, if you ignore the kibble-- the feet are too slim and long, but otherwise he looks pretty good in that respect. He's also got a TON of mold detailing on his robot parts, to the point where it's almost too much-- on his face in particular it seems like the details may bleed together a little. The increased amounts of silver and light metallic silvery blue paint in this mode give him a bit more color variation, though. As for weaponry, the missile pieces underneath his wings can be popped out and be held in his fists in this mode, though it's not the most stable of grips. I prefer to stick them in the small peg holes on his lower arms, making it look like they're pop-out arm weapons. Powerglide's articulation is pretty good-- he can move at the shoulders (at two points), elbows, slightly inward at the wrists, and can also move at the hips, knees, and (due to the transformation) a bit back-and-forth at a point slightly above the ankles. Most of these joints are ball joints, so combined with his large feet and lack of back-heaviness in this mode you can get him into some pretty dynamic poses (keeping in mind that his wings can impede elbow and shoulder movement a bit).
    Dark of the Moon Powerglide is a pretty decent "movieverse" version of the character, but a couple of downsides in robot mode-- such as the amount of kibble-- keep him from being a truly outstanding toy. His vehicle mode is great, though, and this release should please any fan of the character or A-10 Warthogs that can at the very least tolerate the movieverse aesthetic being "lightly" applied to a G1 character.



Powerglide Bio:
Human pilots have traveled thousands of miles just to study the moves Powerglide executes in midair. His acrobatic aerial accomplishments impress all who see them-- friend and enemy alike. His skill is the only thing that has kept him alive, since his light armor makes him a soft target for his Decepticon foes.
Strength: 5.0
Intelligence: 6.0
Speed: 9.0
Endurance: 4.0
Rank: 5.0
Courage: 10.0
Fireblast: 3.0
Skill: 10.0

Review by Beastbot

Back to Transformers: Dark of the Moon Index